The present invention relates to a handheld power tool with a rotating and/or hammering drive mechanism for a tool that can be inserted into a tool receptacle, in which there are means which transmit the rotation of the shaft of a motor to an intermediate shaft, and in which a device is provided which converts the rotary motion of the intermediate shaft into a rotary motion of the tool receptacle, and/or the intermediate shaft is provided with a motion converter, which converts a rotary motion of the intermediate shaft into a hammering motion of the tool receptacle.
Typically, drill hammers/chisel hammers are constructed in this way, as taught for instance by European Patent Disclosure EP 444030 B1. In these known drill hammers/chisel hammers, the motor, with its motor shaft and via a spur gear, drives an intermediate shaft that is rotatably supported in the power tool housing. A further spur gear converts the rotary motion of the intermediate shaft into a rotation of the tool receptacle, with the tool inserted in it. A swash bearing located on the intermediate shaft sets a hammering mechanism, which integrated with the tool receptacle, into an axial reciprocating motion. Because of the mode of construction described above, and in particular because of the gear required between the motor shaft and the intermediate shaft that is offset from it, the tools have a relatively long structural length, which makes them relatively inconvenient to handle and makes it more difficult to start drilling exactly. Especially in drill hammers/chisel hammers with a battery pack, this disadvantage becomes serious.